"
Winston laughed. "I have been taken for another man before. Would you
like anything to drink, or a smoke before you turn in, trooper?"
"No, sir," said the lad. "If you'll sign my docket to show I've been
here, I'll get some sleep. I've sixty miles to ride to-morrow."
Winston did as he was asked, and the trooper withdrew, while when they
sat down to a last cigar it seemed to Dane that his companion's face
was graver than usual.
"Did you notice the lad's astonishment when you came in?" he asked.
"He looked very much as if he had seen a ghost."
Winston smiled. "I believe he fancied he had. There was a man in the
district he came from, who some folks considered resembled me. In
reality, I was by no means like him, and he's dead now."
"Likenesses are curious things, and it's stranger still how folks
alter," said Dane. "Now, they've a photograph at Barrington's of you
as a boy, and while there is a resemblance in the face, nobody with any
discernment would have fancied that lad would grow into a man like you.
Still, that's of no great moment, and I want to know just how you
spotted the gambler. I had a tolerably expensive tuition in most games
of chance in my callow days, and haven't forgotten completely what I
was taught then, but though I watched the game, I saw nothing that led
me to suspect crooked play."
Winston laughed. "I watched his face, and what I saw there decided me
to try a bluff, but it was not until he turned the table over I knew I
was right.
Pages:
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182